Letter to the Editor

Citizens shouldn't have to bail out hospital

Monday, July 28, 2014

To the editor:

I have to give my opinion on the hospital and their request for taxpayers to bail them out of a bad situation.

It shouldn't be our place to bail this company out simply because they were not able to manage this hospital and make a profit. Remember that this hospital is owned and operated by a private company. They must think they are an auto maker. We cannot afford to bail this company out of a jam. They've made poor business decisions and want us to do repairs on it for them so they can turn around and sell it.

If this hospital was owned and operated by the county, I wouldn't mind voting in a tax to help out. We had a chance to have a brand new hospital built by Baptist, but Blytheville and Osceola couldn't come to an agreement, and we lost it. We may need hospitals in our area but not at the expense of taxpayers when its sale is their only goal.

It's time for taxpayers to take a step back and not be so eager to raise taxes, especially when those asking for the money are just bad businessmen looking to make a profit at our expense.

They will sell that hospital anyway, so why should we pad their pockets?

William Masterson
Blytheville